page_title: Hell–Sunnan Line
section_title: Route
hierarchical_section_title: Hell–Sunnan Line / Route
caption_attribution_description: English: Norwegian State Railways Class 93 running through the Værnes Tunnel underneath the taxiway at Trondheim Airport, Værnes
context_page_description: The Hell–Sunnan Line is a 105-kilometer-long railway line between Hell, Stjørdal and Sunnan, Steinkjer in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. The name is no longer in official use and the line is now considered part of the Nordland Line. The Hell–Sunnan Line branches from the Meråker Line at Hell and runs on the east shore of the Trondheimsfjord passing through the municipalities of Stjørdal, Levanger, Verdal, Inderøy and Steinkjer.
  The Norwegian State Railways started construction in 1899 and the first part of the line, from Hell to Stjørdalshalsen, opened on 1 February 1902. The railway opened to Levanger on 29 October 1902, to Verdalsøra on 1 November 1904 and to Sunnan on 15 November 1905. Sunnan was chosen as terminus because of its location on the southern end of the lake of Snåsavatnet. The line was further extended to Snåsa in 1926, after which it has been classified as part of the Nordland Line. The railway is the most heavily trafficked non-electrified line in Norway, with the Trøndelag Commuter Rail running south of Steinkjer. It is also used by intercity passenger and freight trains.
context_section_description: The Hell–Sunnan Line constitutes the section of the Nordland Line between Hell, Stjørdal and Sunnan, Steinkjer. At the time of the line's opening, it was 105.2 kilometers (65.4 mi) long. The railway is single track, standard gauge, non-electrified, and equipped with centralized traffic control, partial automatic train control, and GSM-R. The railway line is owned and maintained by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.
  Starting in the south at Hell Station, which is located 31.54 kilometers (19.60 mi) from Trondheim Central Station (Trondheim S), the Meråker Line branches from the Nordland Line. The latter crosses the river of Stjørdalselva on a 149-meter-long (489 ft) truss bridge. It passes the closed Sandferhus Station before reaching Trondheim Airport Station (33.17 km or 20.61 mi from Trondheim S), which serves as an airport rail link and is situated below the terminal of Trondheim Airport, Værnes. Previously there was a 3-kilometer-long (1.9 mi) spur from Sandferhus to Værnes and Øyanmoen. The mainline continues under the airport's taxiway and runway in the two Værnes Tunnels, the latter which is 150 meters (490 ft) long, after which the line reaches Stjørdal Station (34.67 km or 21.54 mi).
  The line continues past the closed Vold Station, which was built to serve a mill, to Skatval, through which the line makes a semi-circular detour. Here it serves Skatval Station (41.90 km or 26.04 mi) and the closed Alstad Station. Alstad was previously an important station as it was conveniently placed for boat access from Frosta. Located at 89.6 meters (294 ft) above mean sea level (AMSL), it was the highest elevated station on the line. The line then enters the municipality of Levanger, where it first reaches the closed Langstein Station and then the closed Vudu Station. After Vudu, the line reaches its highest elevation of 99 meters (325 ft) when it crosses over European Road 6 (E6). The line then reaches Åsen Station (61.40 km or 38.15 mi) before continuing past the closed Hammerberg Station to Ronglan Station (69.65 km or 43.28 mi).
  Before reaching Skogn Station (76.01 km or 47.23 mi), a 2.8-kilometer-long (1.7 mi) spur branches off to Fiborgtangen, serving Norske Skog Skogn. The mainline continues past Eggen Station and over the E6, past the closed Sykehuset Levanger Station, which served Levanger Hospital, before reaching Levanger Station (83.90 km or 52.13 mi). It then crosses the river Levangselva on a 27.4-meter-long (90 ft) bridge. It passes the closed Elberg Station and to reach HiNT Station (69.65 km or 43.28 mi), which serves the Levanger campus of Nord-Trøndelag University College.
  The line continues past the closed Østborg Station and Rinnan Station before entering the municipality of Verdal. After Bergsgrav Station (93.70 km or 58.22 mi), which serves the neighborhood of Vinne, a spur branches off to Verdal's industrial area. The mainline crosses the river of Verdalselva on a 210-meter-long (690 ft) truss bridge before reaching Verdal Station (96.23 km or 59.79 mi). It is followed by the closed Fleskhus Station and Bjørga Station before entering the municipality of Inderøy at the 103-meter-long (338 ft) Koabjørgen Tunnel. The only station in Inderøy is Røra Station (105.47 km or 65.54 mi); however the line does not enter Steinkjer before passing through the 385-meter-long (1,263 ft) Lunnan Tunnel.
  After passing the closed Vollan Station, the line reaches Sparbu Station (112.93 km or 70.17 mi). It then passes the closed Mære Station and Vist Station and crosses over the 46-meter (151 ft) bridge over Figgja to reach Steinkjer Station (125.50 km or 77.98 mi). The line runs over the river of Steinkjerelva on a 96-meter-long (315 ft) truss bridge. Then come two spurs, to Eggebogen and Byafossen. The line continues past the closed Byafossen Station and Fossemvatnet Station and terminates at the closed Sunnan Station (1,136.66 km or 706.29 mi). The Nordland Line continues over a bridge across Snåsavatnet.
caption: Class 93 train passing through the Værnes Tunnel under Trondheim Airport, Værnes' taxiway
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D200", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:02:15 13:54:21", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "862", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6674", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/50", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:02:14 15:09:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:02:14 15:09:33", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "352741/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF SubSecTime": "08", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "08", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "08", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3872", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 2, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "300", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Hard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}